What Are Web3 Cryptos?

They are digital assets that contribute to the development of a decentralized internet.
Updated May 11, 2023 at 6:07 p.m. UTC

Web3 cryptos are a new wave of cryptocurrencies that focus on making the decentralized vision of Web3 a reality. They combine blockchain technology with smart contracts to give people control over their data and make transactions without relying on third parties.

What exactly is Web3?

Web3 is also known as the third generation of the internet. It aims to remove control from large corporations and operate in a decentralized way that is owned, built and operated by the users themselves.

Unlike traditional online companies that leverage your information, Web3 will give back control of data to the individual. It will bring unique possibilities. For instance, musical artists can post their creations on decentralized platforms or their own personal devices instead of relying on centralized organizations like Spotify or YouTube to profit from them.

Web3 aims to avoid watchdogs or agencies telling you what services you can access or can’t access. Transactions in Web3 are between two or more parties without a middleman to improve privacy, autonomy and control of data.

What are Web3 cryptos?

A cryptocurrency associated with Web3 may provide various services formerly offered by cloud providers, such as computation, bandwidth, storage, identification and hosting services.

With the rapid growth of cryptocurrencies and Web3, developers have been working on improving both technologies by making them more scalable, secure and efficient. Web3 is often mentioned with cryptocurrencies because they share the core principles of decentralization and equal access.

Major Web3 cryptocurrencies

Here are some examples of Web3 crypto projects that are working on building the next generation of the web:

  • Helium (HNT) - The People’s network provides a decentralized peer-to-peer wireless network.
  • Chainlink (LINK) – Chainlink is a blockchain middleware that allows smart contracts to access vital off-chain resources such as data feeds, web APIs (application programming interfaces) and traditional bank payments.
  • Filecoin (FIL) – Filecoin is a decentralized storage network where people can rent out their extra hard drive space in exchange for Filecoin tokens. Think of it as the Web3 version of Amazon Web Services or Google Drive.
  • Theta (THETA) – Theta is a dispersed network intended for video streaming that allows users to share bandwidth and computing power in a peer-to-peer fashion.
This article was originally published on Jun 29, 2022 at 6:03 p.m. UTC

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Mike  Antolin

Mike Antolin was CoinDesk's SEO Content Writer for Learn.


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